The Health Convert Equation

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week I spent helping a compadre start his running program, I got in a few miles, and I taunted several of my co-workers for being wimps.  My buddy, Kevin, has decided to get back into shape.  Kev is doing it for health reasons, to shed some pounds and get back into fightin' trim.  So to help him along, I guilted and harassed him till he agreed that it really wasn't too cold to go outside and run.  It may have helped that he had nothing else to do on his lunch hour (other than eat), so he gave in.  I took him out and we did an easy mile and a half.  I wanted to make sure that he enjoyed the run and didn't overdo it like other people (like myself).  I must have worked because he grabbed another run the next day.  While I'm glad that he enjoyed it, I was concerned that he might push himself too hard and either hurt himself or ignore the rest/recovery part of working out.  But he despite some soreness, he did okay and rested the next day.  Today we did close to 2 miles up some tough hills.  He was winded, but afterwards he told me that he felt energized.  I know what he means.  Even after a hard workout or a ridiculous amount of miles, I still get that feeling of power and energy that pumps me up and makes me think that I can go do more.  You know that feeling of adrenaline that rushes to your head and makes you want to go farther, run faster, keep pushing to see if you can ride that high just a little bit longer.  I love that feeling.  Sadly I'm at that point in my training that I really have to push myself, otherwise I might cheat and coast through a workout without getting much benefit at all.  To prove my point, I went to the Y this week with some friends from work.  We did this ridiculous abs class that had me falling off a bosu ball through half the class and grunting as I tried to lift my legs higher into the air the other half.  My butt was sore, my abs were tight, and my legs felt like jelly (I know because jam don't shake like that), but after all that, I still put in a fast 5 miles.  It reminded me a lot of a long race.  That point in the race where you know that you're over the hump and you think that if you can tough it out you can finish strong.  It's that point in the race when your adrenaline is pushing you forward and all conscious thought has left your brain except that lone desire to finish fast.  Man, I love that feeling, and I just hope that I can get more people to share that feeling.  But maybe unlike me they won't have to go down the road that I've chosen.  As I told Beth, my friend Tiffany's sister, that pain is my friend and running buddy.  It teaches me what I can take and rewards me with those natural endorphins that flood my brain to mask whatever terrible thing that I'm doing to my body at the time.  Mmmm.  Good times, good times.  All right, enough of the crazy talk.  The hard numbers:  2 runs today.  1 with my friend 1.84 miles at 12:23/mile and then another 1.4 miles at 8:14/mile by myself.  Okay kids, run hard and have fun!